Barely Breathing — the Alpine Rescue Team series

Sorry it’s been so long since I updated this blog. I got back from France with grand plans about sharing my journals of that trip with you. Real life, however, got busy very quickly.

I had my 18-month post-chemo checkup, which I passed with flying colors. That was good news. I also spent some time with my grandkids.

And then there’s Barely Breathing , my work-in-progress. I’m not sure how it is for other writers, but getting words on the page demands a lot of unbroken time, especially when I’m starting a new book. This book is also the first book in a new series. I spent ten years on the I-Team series, so it’s a big change, but also very exciting.

I’m happy to say that things are progressing well. I’ve passed the halfway mark with the story and plan to have it out to you in print and ebook by early May.

I thought I’d tell you a little bit about the story. It’s straight contemporary romance, which is new for me. The story is set in the quirky little Colorado mountain town of Scarlet Springs and centers on the lives of members of an alpine rescue team—the men and women who dig out avalanche victims, find lost hikers, help trapped climbers get down off mountains and cliffs.

The characters include expert climbers, skiers, helicopter pilotes, rescue-dog trainers, paramedics, wildland firefighters, park rangers and others.



Barely Breathing tells the story of Lexi Jewell, who grew up in Scarlet but left with plans never to return, and Austin Taylor, now a park ranger and Alpine Rescue Team member. The two were lovers in high school, barely able to keep their hands off each other and deeply in love. A rough breakup the summer after high school graduation left them both heartbroken.

Now, twelve years later, Lexi has come back to Scarlet following a nasty sexual-harassment case in Chicago to stage an intervention in her father's life. This brings her face-to-face with Austin again. Though he’s cold to her at first, the two of them soon discover that the attraction they felt for each other hasn’t faded.

It’s a second-chance love story, not just for Lexi, but for her father, who has alienated Lexi’s stepmom and tried to win her back by doing things like shoplifting, watering the flowers in his underwear in broad daylight, and getting raging drunk. He certainly knows how to charm a woman—not!

Behind the love story, we’ll get a glimpse at how an alpine rescue team works. As many of you know, I come from a climbing family. I was rescued by a park ranger many years ago after falling a total of forty feet down the side of Colorado’s Mt. Ida. Badly injured, I was flown by helicopter to a trauma center in Estes Park. I have some firsthand experience with the subject matter.



The park ranger who rescued me, incidentally, now works as a sheriff's deputy and sometimes crosses paths with my younger son, who is a seasonal park ranger. Small world!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the inside look at the story and the series. These books are a little lighter than my I-Team books with a dose of humor thrown in. They’re definitely sexy, not sweet. Some of the I-Team guys might make cameos in the series down the road, starting with climber Gabe Rossiter.

I’ll have a cover reveal and excerpts for you soon, so stay tuned!



In the meantime, the first three ebooks in the I-Team series are still on sale. Between them, they have almost 11,000 five-star ratings on Goodreads. Extreme Exposure is $3.99. Hard Evidence is $4.99. Unlawful Contact is $5.99. Normally, the ebooks are priced at $7.99. This is a publisher promotion, so I’m not sure how long it will last. If you’re curious about the I-Team series and want to give them a read, you’ve got a chance to save $9 on the first three.


Amazon US
Extreme Exposure
Hard Evidence
Unlawful Contact

Nook
Extreme Exposure
Hard Evidence
Unlawful Contact

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